We packed up, had breakfast and coffee, settled our bills at the hostel, then Donna shuttled us out to the trailhead. While Columbus and I were getting packs on to start, another hiker called Billy Goat came over from the trail to be shuttled into town for resupply. Donna opened the trunk and his pack was so large it barely fit through the trunk opening. He laughed and admitted it was a big pack but didn’t seem to mind. Later in the day another hiker told us Billy Goat’s food bag alone weighs more than 29 pounds at one point. Apparently he is afraid of running out of food so he always carries a bunch extra, and needs a huge pack for all this stuff. Billy Goat mentioned he departed Springer on February 17th. We talked for a few minutes about his hike and then he and Donna headed out.
Right from the trailhead we crossed the James River on the longest footbridge on the entire trail.
It was a bluebird day—not a cloud in the sky. We planned to hike about 15 miles to a shelter for the night. But by mid day it was clear we would arrive before 3pm. So we looked at the options and decided to stop at the planned shelter for a rest and perhaps push on another 5 miles to the next one.
One the way today we ran across quite a few NOBO hikers, all of them starting in mid to late February: Mouse, Fiddle, Danger Boy and T-Bird (brothers), then Sumdown and B.
Late in the day we passed an interesting feature known as “The Guillotine” which was a large boulder wedged above a narrow passage through the rock.
The last hour dragged and Columbus and I felt ready to be finished for the day. We made it to the farther shelter by 6pm with plenty of time to take care of everything before dark. There was another NOBO hikers named Perk already there. He is thru hiking and lives nearby in Virginia. He is planning to head off trail for a visit home and then slack pack north through the Shenandoahs, since he has already hiked these trails so much. We ate dinner together then climbed into our beds around 7:30pm. It was still light out but, after the long uphill hike today, it felt like time to rest.
And here are a few of the interesting things I noticed on the hike today.
